OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Maurice Canady was happy he pulled down his leaping interception during Thursday's preseason game in the specific spot he did. He was happy because he could immediately celebrate with his Baltimore Ravens teammates on the sideline, because he started off his slate of home games in 2018 with a takeaway and because fans at M&T Bank Stadium showered him with hoots and hollers.

"I've been catching all these interceptions out here [at practice], but nobody else sees it," Canady said. "It was just good for me to display my talent for the world to see."

But Canady found no significance in the reality that he delivered an eye-opening highlight during his first appearance at M&T Bank Stadium since an infamous misstep.

In Week 17 of the 2017 season, the Bengals completed a fourth-down pass in the final minute of a game against the Ravens, and Canady took a bad angle when trying to make a tackle. That allowed Tyler Boyd to scoot by the last line of Baltimore's defense and into the end zone for a 49-yard game-winning touchdown.

Boyd's score ultimately knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs. Baltimore was leading by three before the play and ended the day one win shy of making the postseason.

Canady said he never thought about that when he suited up in the Ravens' locker room for the exhibition Thursday night, though. He never thought about it when he stepped onto the field or when he nabbed that interception and pranced around with his teammates.

"If you dwell on the past, you have no future," Canady said. "Yeah, that didn't cross my mind at all."

That's a fine way for Canady to think, a method for a young player to refocus himself on a promising career. Still, from the perspective of outsiders, this Ravens season might be about avenging that Week 17 collapse and returning the franchise to prominence more than anything else.

Canady wasn't the only one who caused a lapse on Boyd's touchdown, and his play as a slot corner mostly helped the Ravens last year. He didn't doom the team to a fourth straight year without a playoff berth. But that doesn't mean fans and analysts won't watch to see if he can bounce back from the gut punch that Cincinnati delivered.

Thursday's interception was a positive step. And while he might not have a defined role in the defense this year with Tavon Young healthy and manning the slot corner spot, Canady's positional flexibility provides a boost to a talented secondary.

The third-year professional has played well as an outside corner throughout preseason and coach John Harbaugh said Canady could play safety in a pinch.

"It's a huge deal to me to display my versatility on a daily basis," Canady said. "It really projects the player that I envision myself to be."

That vision is what Canady's thinking about and what his interception Thursday represented, he said. He wants that play to stand as a sign of progress, not as a mode of redemption.

"I'm just worried about what I've got to do next," Canady said. "Just a day-by-day thing."